Writing board lamp and paper holder



Nov. 10, 1953 A. G. MARSCHAT 2,658,989

WRITING BOARD LAMP AND PAPER HOLDER Filed May 29, 1951 INVENTOR. 45 1? 6MARSCHAT If! u HTTORIVEY Patented Nov. 10, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE 2,658,989 WRITING BoARn LAMP AND PAPER HOLDER Arthur G.Mars'chat, Whitestone, N. Y. Application May 29, 1951, Serial No.228,799

3 Claims. 1 p

This invention relates to a writing board lamp.

It is an object of the invention to provide a lamp adapted forattachment to a writing board of a type such as used in taxicabs,delivery trucks and in like places where there is an urgent need at manytimes for a light to be available for writing on the board and wherebythe operator does not need to bend or stretch to find adequate lightingfor the board and can thus keep himself in an upright position toobserve the road.

It is another object of the invention to provide a detachable lamp for awriting board which is so constructed as to contain a pencil and whereinthe locating of the pencil in the attachment will automatically turn offthe lamp and the removal of the pencil automatically turn on the lamp,in order to keep a pencil at all times available for the user of thewriting board, the user of lamp thus being signaled whether or not thepencil is in or out of the lamp.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a lamp attachmentfor a writing board a simple means for the connection of the attachmentto the Sides of the board that will permit the attachment to be turnedup to release the paper but which, as the attachment is turned down,will retain the paper upon the board, this means of attachment beingmovable over center between its two positions with respect to theattaching arms that fix the attachment to the board. A

Other objects of the invention are to provide a writing board lamp whichis of simple construction, inexpensive to manufacture, is formed ofstandard stock parts, has a minimum number of parts, and is compact,durable and eflicient in operation.

For other objects and a better understanding of the invention,referencemay be had thefollowing detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a writing board with the lamp embodyingthe features-of the present invention attached thereto and adjusted toretain the paper upon theboard.

Fig. 2 is an -enlarged longitudinal sectional view ofthe board and theattachment taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1. V

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the attachment and the boardtaken generally on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a bottom planned view of the attachment.

Fig. 5 is an illustrated viewshowing the manner in which the attachmentis pivoted upwardly to release the paper from the board.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary illustrated view on a large scale to'show theposition of the attaching arms when the attachment is lifted to theposition shown in Fig. 5 and showing the point which holds the paperelevated from the board.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary View of a modified form of. the switch which maybe used in the attachment and which is operated by a pencil.

Referring now to the figures, It represents a writing board adapted toreceive a piece of paper I I upon which writing is to be made. The boardID affords a smooth top surface so that writing with a pencil I2 uponthe paper I I will be effected in a smooth manner and without the paperbeing punctured by the pencil point.

According to the invention a lamp attachment indicated generally at I3has been provided which can be secured to the top edge of the board If]by projections or arms extending over the sides of the board near thetop edge thereof, and in such a manner that the lamp can be pivoted upewardly to release the paper II or when pivoted downwardly onto the boarditv serves to hold the the paper in a fixed manner thereupon. This sameattachment I3 serves to support pencil I2 and this pencil may serve tooperate a switch which will control the light bulb within theattachment.

The lampattachment comprises generally a main tube I4 formed oftransparent plastic material, such as Lucite and a pencil tube I 5adapted to receive the pencil, I2 and cemented orotherwise secured tothe side ofthe lamp tube I I.

The lamp tube It has an end plug [6 which contains a lampsocket ll.Cable wires I8 extend through the plug I6, one of which connects withthe lamp socket ll as indicated at 20, and the other of which connectswith a sleeve contact as, indicated at 2i. This sleeve contact lies inthe wall of the tube. A switch contact 22 is sidablethrough the; sleeve2i, and when released by pencil E2, on the pencil IZ-being taken fromtube l5,will engage the side of the socket I! so as to establish acircuit through the socket to light the. elongated lamp-bulb 23. j. Thecontact 1 2,2 is connected toa lever '24 pivoted at 25 to the.

interior of the tube I 5. A compression spring 26 urges the lever 24upwardly at the end which is engagedby pencil I2 and downwardly at thecon-' tact ends 22 whereby upon removing the pencil the contact 22 willbe forced through the contact sleeve 2| and against the socket IT. Theends of the pencil tube I5 are cut away as indicated at 21 and 28 toprovide easy access to the pencil so that it-can be easily pushed out ofone end of the tube or the other.

In the opposite end of the lamp tube I4 is a plug 29 which carries anadjustable hook attaching arm or member 30. This attaching arm has ahook portion 34 which extends over the edge of the board In and engageswith the underside thereof. A spring 35 is provided on the arm 30 tourge the hook portion 34 against the side edge of the board II]. Anenlargement 35 is provided on the arm against which the vspringiii'l mayreact. It will thus be seen that the board can vary slightly in widthand the attachment can be adapted to it. On the lamp plug end of thetube I4 is a fixed hook arm 31 which fit's over th'eSOpposite edge ofthe board It). Thecable wires 15 has a plug 39 thereon to fit the outletsocket or the vehicle and to establish an electric connection of theattachment with the vehicle battery.

There is a certain amount of give to the hook arm 30 and hook arm 3 tospring down the attachmentupon th board. Legs and 42 serve as a pivot'"on which the attachment can be retated upon the board is. The lowerendsof the legs 4| are flat as indicated at 43, in-Fig. 16, was to stabilizethe attachment when -in the raised position. The attaching arms 30 and37 are shown tilted to hold the attachment flat upon the bottom faces 33of the legs M and 42 when inthe raised position. As the attachment .ispivoted down on to the -boa'rd and into the position shown iiiFigs. 1and 2, the projecting arms iii) and 3l'will :be tilted forwardly andpaper engaging points 45 and 46 will be brought into engagement with thepaper H. The spring arms 36 and 31 will forcibly hold the attachment ina position which is shown in Fig. 1 with the parts 65 and entering thepaper) These arms will be in tilted position and the leg elements 4'!and '42 will be rolled on to theiriorward edges. If it is desired torelease the paper, it is only necessary 'to lift theattachment in themanner as -shown in Fig. The points 45 and 46 thus are raised out of thepaper. When the attachment is in the down position, as shown in Fig. 2,light rays will be projected toward the paper. The'o'paque-c'over ii'ig41 extends over the greater portion of the tube 4. Since the tube istransparent, light rays pass through the uncovered portion thereof.

In Fig. '7 there is shown a modified --'forr'n of swi-tch w-hereincontact terminals 48 and '43 are provided' respectively on contact's'trips iii) and 5 1. The -'contact strip 51] is longer than the strip51, andbn the outer endthereof is a projection 52 which extends upwardlyand engages with a strip' 83 that can be engaged by pencil 12 upon thepencil being extended through the tube 4 5. The strip '53 is fixed tothe tube by a rivet '54.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided an attachment fora writing -"board which serves not only to efiect the lighting of the paper-on the board, but also is tilta ble -'--between two positions so asto either release the paper or 'tohold the paper in position "on theboard.

-I-t should also be apparent that the attachment that the lightautomatically is turned on. Upon return of the pencil the light will beturned off. If the light is still on, the user will be given anindication that the pencil needs to be returned. Accordingly, there islittle opportunity for the pencil to be lost, and the user of the boardwill always have such pencil available.

While only pnearm 35 is shown to be a spring arm, it willbeunderstqodthat the .other arm 31 can be of the same type. In order thatthe arm .31] can adapt itself to the board readily, the hole throughwhich the arm 30 extends is tapered. soon :as -the attachment is inplace on the board, the arm will be centralized in the opening by thespring 35.

iVifhile various changes may be made in the detail construction, itshall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

-I claim:

1. n :writing b'oardlamp attachment comprisinga tube adapted to permitthe passage of light through the :side thereof, a lamp socket secured tothe-tube, a lamp bulb in the socket, a second tube attached to the side:of the first tube and adapted to receive a pencil and serving -:as ahandle for lifting and lowering the attachment, electric circuit meansfor supplying (electric :current to said lamp bulb, spring attachingarms extending respectively from the opposite end of thefirst tube andhaving hook formation adapted to extend over the edges :of the writingboard to hold the attachment against iip'Warddisplacezment therefrom,rear ileg 'members projecting respectively fromthe opposite .ends'of thefirst tube and rearwardly "of the attaching arms, forward leg memberspro jecting respectively from the first tube and inwardly of therespective and adj acent rear leg members, said forward leg members=lying forwardly of the attaching arms and adapted to engage a papersheet to retain the same in place upon the board as the attachment islowcred-forwardly thereunto, said attachment upo'n being-lifted orlowered pivoting on said rear-leg members as-a'pivo't.

2. A Writingiboard lamp attachment as defined inclaim 1 ands'aid rear-1eg members respectively having flat bottom faces to hold theattachment in its lifted position against further rear-ward rotation. I

3. A writing board lamp atta'chment as defined ijn'c'laiih -1andsaid-elec'tric circuit means including {a switch means e'iit'endinginto the second tube 'and'adapt'ed to be operated by a pencil as it isdisposed 'in the second tube.

ARTHUR G. MARSCHAT.

-=Rcferences 'Cited in the -'file of this patent UNITED s'rn riiisPATENTS

